USI X2 Skis - Setup Help

[mdkuni]

Re: DUMP the USI,s

Hi

I PMed you but thought i would post as well...especially if others are having similiar problems.

Just ordered an 09 Nytro XTX but have an 02 MXZ Renegade (136) with an M10 skid....Fox Floats up front.....and USI Project X Skis with wear shapers and ? carbides.

This is my second year for them and i will not ride another mile on them....TAKE THEM OFF NOW...THEY ARE DANGEROUS!

Going across lakes where the snow depth and consistency is varying....especially if crusted...one ski will grab...the bars will jerk and the sled will swerve so violently that one ski will lift...feels like i am going to tip over! They have also done this on some of the fireroads i ride on.

Very odd because on most trails they will go where you point them and work in the corners...( stock precision skis would push push push)...but under some conditions they have something in the design that makes them dangerous. Cant tell for sure but these skis " reach" down into the snow pretty far between that deep keel and the wear shaper carbides. If they find ice or very dense snow underneath.....LOOK OUT. If the density remains consistent throughout the keel/carbide reach then they seem to behave. Maybe less aggressive skis ignore this stuff or cannot penetrate the dense stuff......just speculation.... but the result is not speculative at all. This is a violent and severe handling fault.

I thought it might just be a sled/ski combo thing but have heard others with our story.

I called USI and got the same story from them that u did....check the toe out.....relax limiter strap...more preload on the front....move the mounting hole....blah blah blah......too much fiddling and not enought riding and NONE of it made those things behave.

I just cannot relax with those things on my sled......they bit so hard several times on Gull lake this year i almost fell off the sled...had to quit lake riding. Same thing last year in the UP. Spent two years looking for the magic combination. Well i found it....those skis went to the garbage...i wont even sell them to someone else........waiting for the garbage can to lurch suddenly now (ha ha ). Guess i am spooked.

Doing research now on a replacement...let me know what you find. I am looking at Curve XS or Simmons Flex Gen I.

Good Luck and Regards

Send them back! That is what I did and switched to Slydogs. The USI X2's were just not good on an Apex IMO.

 

[rxrider]

mdkuni - Which Slydogs did you go with? How are they performing?

 

[mdkuni]

mdkuni - Which Slydogs did you go with? How are they performing?

I am running their race skis. Compared to the USI skis (Project X and X2) they are very different.

The bad: these skis push in the corners and they do not float nearly as well as the USI skis.

The good: the steering effort is incredible!!! It is extremely light compared to the USI skis. Which is why I went with them. Doing 250 + miles on the USI skis in a day would leave your arms a little tired.

I went with the race skis because of the high mileage I do. If you went with the Powder Hounds I am sure they would float much better. I got used to the skis not being as aggressive after a couple thousand miles. Although I think I would prefer a ski in between for an aggressive rider. The Curve skis have really caught my eye. I may try a set if I sell my Slydogs.

 

[rxrider]

I had Slydog trail skis, they had the same problem with push in the corners. Steering was effortless tho They floated well too when going straigh forward in powder, but if you made a turn they would dive. In powder I could not steer with the skis, I had to use body language. On the trail the Slydogs easily outperformed the stock skis. With the Apex Mountain skis I still have to work the sled thru powder but not nearly as much as with the Slydogs. The Apex Mountain skis are too agressive for trail riding, sometimes they suddenly bite and dig in, very dangerous, I had been ejected from the sled at 80 MPH once this season, scary.

I'm also looking for a ski that is half way between the Slydog Trail and Apex Mountain ski. Hondo have run them Curve skis and have only good to say about them, I don't know if he have any experience running them off trail tho, I may have to ask him.